janda

Yes, she does have the 10 year GC. I guess I forgot to update it when we were going thru the ordeal of waiting...

Is there any difference that it's a ten year GC?

Janda

Hey VJers,

Due to the bad economy, I got laid off of work(temporarily), and after running out of money, we did the only viable option, which was to go back to the wifey's home country and temporarily wait it out at her parent's until my job called me back. That was almost 2 years ago. My company still hasn't given me the callback to work yet, so we're still waiting in her home country. We went back to the US (for about a week) last year to retain her greencard. Looks like we're gonna have to do it one more time before my company recalls me. Plane tickets to the mainland are expensive, but tickets to Guam are way cheaper. Would visiting Guam reset the "can't stay out of the US for more than one year" clock?

Thanks,

Janda

hahaha, congrats! I knew you'd get yours shortly after we got ours. I seriously think we had the same IO, and either he/she was really lagging compared to others,or the person might have seriously taken a long vacation. Either way, congrats!

OH my god Janda - well this kind of gives me hope - we were neck and neck with you and I am very worried also. Maybe there's hope we'll get approved soon. Congrats.

I will update the others in just a min.

I thought you'd be interested, that's why I posted ASAP. I noticed for a while now that we were the only ones (normal applications) not approved and now people that had submitted in 2009 were getting approved! For reference, we're still married, have a minimal age difference, this is the first marriage for both of us, etc. So it was really worrying us, but it is the USCIS, so no rhyme or reason. Maybe the person working on our file was on a really long vacation? Anyway, I hope you hear from them shortly! Now on to naturalization... the fun continues...

Wow, well, after having been passed up by a BUNCH of people that have gotten their 10yr GCs even though we applied earlier, it is so relieving to say that we finally rcved our GC. We filed in the middle of Oct and finally got an email yest, Feb 26 that our card was ordered. Normally that would not be a long wait, esp compared to the VSC ppl, but there were people getting their GCs so quickly at the CSC that I thought something might be wrong with ours. Well we finally got ours. Could someone please add our name to the rvced date? Thanks!

Janda

jeez, everyone got their cards so quickly (except me), that this thread fell back to the 7th page! We're starting to get worried...

I didn't see RFE but it was touched and couple days letter I received the RFE.

Our case was never touched after our biometrics but we got an RFE. The RFE had it's own WAC number and I could never get it on line. Kept saying it was a wrong number. Got e-mail today 10 yr card ordered.

Well the touched could be for rfe or something else but since I received the rfe after several days of that touched, I assumed it was. Btw, congratulations on your approval

Thanks everyone for your replies. Looks like what I feared was true. Well at least I know now that RFEs could pop up with no warning...

Hey all. I'm patiently waiting for approval of my 10 year green card, and am starting to get worried becuase a lot of people that have filed after we did have already gotten their 10 yr gc. I was wondering if I might have been sent an RFE but haven't gotten it yet or it got lost. The case status online shows that there hasn't been a touch since a few days after the bio appt (end of November).

So for those that have gotten RFEs, is the only way you know you got one is by getting one in the mail, or does your online status show that you have been sent an RFE?

And for those that have gotten RFEs, is there usually a touch around the day that the RFE was sent?

Just want to add that when I got home yesterday, the official approval was in the mail, dated 1/14/09. Not sure which date you guys would like in the CSC list, that one or the one that card production was ordered (1/21/09)

ps. man, it's such a relief to have this behind me.

Congrats for you!

I am starting to get a bad feeling... people are blowing past us. I hope this doesn't mean interview or something.

I am worried too. I sent 751 on 10/27/2008. Bio appt. was 11/29/2008 but I did walk in on 11/28/2008. LUD on 12/1/2008 and 12/2/2008. Since then,nothing. No REF & no LUD. Am seriously worried cos people after us are geting approved. Though, my CPR card exparied tomorrow 1/23/2009.

Wow, now I'm starting to get worried. My Bio date was 11/25, and that's a lot of people with later dates getting approved. I got a weird touch on a dead application on 1/11, then not a peep since. Not happy...

So I Submitted my I-751 mid Oct, did the biometrics late Nov, and when I check online to see when my "CRI89" was last updated, it shows late Nov. Weird thing is, today, I go to check, and the CRI89 update hasn't changed, but oddly, my I90 that was done back in August of 07 was touched! Thing is, I recieved my GC a couple months after filing the I90, so that case shouldn't be active... Anyone with insight?

And for more detail, the I90 was filed becuase I never recieved my 2 year GC in the first place (I'm STILL fuming for having to pay $600+ for a GC that I never lost becuase I never recieved it!!!!).

So why the touch???

Even weirder, the touch was dated 1/11/09, which is a Sunday... they don't work Sundays...

Just thought I'd add our info:

I-751 sent 10/15/08

NOA1 10/24/08

Biometrics 11/25/08

looks like ppl are getting their GCs 3 months after their biometrics which is good! Although with the holidays coming I'm expecting our to be a lil longer.

JANDA

I ask becuase we are considering having our child in my spouse's country due to finances and logistics of taking care of the baby. Does it matter that only one of us is a US citizen and the other is a permanent resident, or it makes no difference? And if he is a US Citizen, how does that work becuase the foreign hospital would not be able to produce a "US birth certificate?" Can the US Embassy in that country make him a "US birth certificate?" Is there a lot of paperwork for us to do to make him a US citizen? Could someone tell me what paperwork that is and what it involves to do all of this?

Thanks,

janda

Ok, so we received our Welcome letter in the mail Jan. 8. We waited for three weeks, and when it didn't arrive, we called the customer service line. They put in a service request (or something along those lines) and told me if I dont hear back in 6 weeks, call again. Well, 8 weeks have passed, and nothing, so I called again, and they put in another service request. We need to go back to Korea in May, so the lady on the phone told me to make an Infopass appt and talk to them.

So we went there today, and all I have to say is that they are rude, impolite *@#*&@#$.]!!! I won't even get into how rude they were to us, but they said that card production was ordered a couple days after the welcome letter. Since it was, we would have to pay $260 to get a replacement card!!! Are they freakin insane? I paid enough of these stupid fees so that these lazy ####### ppl can slowly process my app and now they want $260 becuase I never recieved the card???? She said if they recieved the card back from USPS as undeliverable that was one thing, but they never got it back. But becuase her computer says that the card was produced, we have to pay $260 to replace a card we never recieved!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She says that I can send in the I-90 app without a payment and write an explanation, but she knows that they are just going to say I have to pay. Then I told her that I had called the Customer Service center twice, and she just rolled her eyes and said that they don't have that any info about Customer Service, like she cared. She told me either pay the $260, or don't get the green card.

Funny thing is, we never got an email saying that the green card was produced. The last thing we got from USCIS both from emails and in the mail was that the welcome letter.

Why do I have to pay $260 to replace a card we NEVER recieved??? WHY??? I am so pissed, and the USCIS is a dept full of morons.....

any suggestions???

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I got an email saying that my baby's card got ordered!!!! (01.05)

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, move me up to the APPROVED list! Oh Yeah!!!!!

Thanks for adding me on Ridley! Yeah, I hope it's short too, would be a nice Xmas present!

Thanks for the encouraging words Kath! I hope whoever is processing our AOS is the same one that processed yours! Yours was QUICK!!!

Hey VJers,

So I got an email from CRIS saying that my case was tranferred to CSC. I remembered this ridiculously long post, so I wanted to get on the list as well. But I am not crystal clear on the "transfer to CSC" thing. Am I correct in assuming that people are happy to get transferred to CSC becuase there is a very good chance that there won't be an interview before getting AOS? What would you say the chances of not having an interview are? 80-90%?

If someone could add me to the list:

NOA1: 11/03/06

Biometrics: 11/18/06

CSC transfer: 12/05/06

I have my fingers crossed for a quick processing!

Missouri is also known as the National Benefits Center, AOS cases can get forwarded there or to California, or any of the other centers to balance work load.

http://149.101.23.2/graphics/fieldoffices/nbc/faq.htm

National Benefits Center About

yeah, I just got a message on all of my apps (485, 765, 131) that they are all at the Missouri Service Center. So does that mean that instead of going to the CSC, mine will remain and get processed at the Missouri Service Center?

Ok, on everyone's timeline, there is something about "touched." What the heck is that? Does it have to do with keeping track of your status online on USCIS.GOV?

Ok, speaking of USCIS.GOV, I created a login on their site, but I don't have a receipt number. I mailed in the AOS packet last week. Do I recieve the reciept number on the NOA1? I put in the reciept number of the NOA1 for the I-129F, but I guess that doesn't work for the AOS?

Thanks in Advance!

janda

Thanks for all the replies. Hey, I don't want her to risk it, but I guess it's really important to her. Thanks for the tip YuandDan. That's the backup plan. If she doesn't get the AP before the wedding, we'll try to infopass it and try. I just hope they don't want me to pay the processing fee AGAIN!!!

OK, so I've been reading over and over the instructions on the I-131 form, and I still don't understand one part. Lemme give a brief background on the scenario.

So my spouse really needs to get back to the motherland in January becuase a sibling is getting married, and we're about to send in the AOS along with the EAD and AP docs in a couple days. We're really really worried that she won't get her AP in time to go however.

So while filling in the info for Part 7 of the I-131 form, I noticed that you can send the travel document outside the US to a US embassy. Has anyone tried this? Does this apply to us even???

Does anyone know what would happen if she leaves BEFORE getting her AP? She won't be able to get back in? Isn't the travel document/AP just a piece of paper? What if she gets it at our US address and I mail it to her. Any problems with that?

Janda

Hey all,

I was going over the guide for adjustment of status, and noticed that for the marriage certificate, it states that it should be a "certified copy." What exactly is a certified copy? I'm a lil worried becuase I took my marriage cert and made a photocopy of it, and on the photocopy it has the word "VOID" all over it becuase it is printed on a special paper that cannot be copied.

Oh, another quick question, in the guide it says to send the payment with a money order so you can track it, but how do you track a money order? All the money orders I've gotten thru Walmart I haven't seen any way to track it.

Thanks in advance!

Janda

Ok, so at some point I recieved my wife's NOA2 (K1) but I don't know where it went and I don't know what it looks like. I got several letters and can't determine which one the NOA2 is. Does anyone have a pic or scan of one so I can take a look and verify?

So lets assume that I lost my NOA2 (seems likely ). I need the NOA2 to submit her AOS packet, but what happens if I send it without one? I mean, she does have her K1 visa, shouldn't that be enough evidence? Does anyone know how I would go about getting another NOA2???

Frustrated,

Janda

It takes the SSN office a couple of weeks after your arrival to update their system with your info. If you apply for an SSN regardless then they have to manually verify your info with USCIS by filling out a form which can take upto ten weeks. So its advisable to only apply after their database is updated.

It allows for immigration to enter info into their system, so that when SSA querys SAVE they can verify your work authorized status. However, SSA procedure says for them to hold off sending the G-845 if they check SAVE and they can't verify the applicant's status and the applicant hasn't been in the U.S. for 10 days. Then recheck SAVE after the person has been here 10 day, then send the G-845 for manual verification if SAVE does verify.

Waiting 10 to 14 days probably isn't going to hurt anything, but is not required.

Thanks for the help guys! MDYoung, you rock! You're always so informative! That definitely gives me hope. I hope the SSN office followed protocol, and she gets her SSN card this week!

Well I called and in my state they have the parent's names, maiden name, and the date of birth on the marriage license.

I was planning on going to go get the marriage license next week, then becoming legally married in front of a judge, then if it has the info required I'll just have her apply for her SSN with her married name using the marriage license as ID.

I also read that it's a bad idea to apply for an SSN number until a few weeks after arrival in the states.

The post you gave mdyoung looks very imformative but I'm having a difficult time understanding why it would be a bad idea to just apply with the marriage license name for the first card. I blame this on the fact that it's Friday afternoon and I'm at work!

why is it bad to apply for an SSN number until a few weeks after arrival into the states? My fiance arrived on a friday, and we applied for her SSN the following monday. Was that a bad thing to do? The lady at the SSN office said that we'd recieve her card in 2 weeks. It will be 2 weeks on monday, but no card yet...

What did you guys all do about name changes and all that kind of stuff? To get into more detail, lemme first give some background info.

My fiance arrived in the US a week ago. I took her to the SSA office, where we filed for a SSN. We also are in preperation for getting the marriage certificate. Now, when her SSN card comes out, it will have her Korean (written in English) name on it, just as written on her Korean passport and the K-1 Visa. But when we go to get married, her last name will be changed to mine (of her own free will of course!). So on the marriage certificate, it will show her new last name (mine). But wouldn't that be confusing as all hell for all the applications and possibly make things really complicated???

One more question along these lines. On her passport and K-1 visa, it has her Korean (written in English) name on there. If her last name is going to change, she also wants to change her first name to an English first name that she's been using for some time now. Since we're getting married in front of a judge, he has the power to legally change her name. Is that possible? and is it recommended? I know that if we file the I-485 with her Korean name, it will be close to impossible to change later. So maybe we should do this now?

Thanks!